By Chris Wright, Director, The Right Image, Ltd.IXYS UK Westcode, part of the global semiconductor manufacturer IXYS Corporation, is investing in its Chippenham, U.K., factory to manufacture a new range of power semiconductor devices. These new devices will be marketed alongside the company's longstanding Press-Pack capsules. Nikon Metrology was ...

By Carsten Edler, Industry Segment Manager — Wind Energy, and Norbert Weiss, Team Leader Marketing Services — Han®, HARTING Electric GmbH & Co. KGGermany's roughly 30,000 wind turbines currently produce around 50,000 MW of electricity for households and companies. The expansion of wind energy both onshore and offshore is helping to determine the pace and success of the shift in energy policy introduced at the beginning of the ...

By Rob Finn, VP Marketing and Product Management, LabelmasterLithium-ion batteries are dangerous cargo. Trouble starts when the separator between the battery's elements is compromised, causing a short circuit. The battery then overheats, reaches its "thermal runaway" point at 302°F (150°C) and bursts into flames.

One step every manufacturer can take to help the bottom line is to improve the manufacturing process. Starting with a solution-based mentality or "putting out fires as they appear" neglects examining the process itself. A manager might begin by implementing a program based on a school of thought — lean manufacturing, key performance indicators (KPIs), Kaizen, poka-yoke, etc. This is done in the hopes that an improved mindset will eventually address all of the problems.

By Steve Heinzen, VP of Marketing, NEO Tech Engineering ServicesAn aviation industry OEM and its end customer — a major commercial airline manufacturer — envisioned a product that would boost the efficiency of commercial flight crews. The product would have wireless connectivity while operating automatically in the aircraft.

By Mike Prestoy, Senior Manufacturing Engineer, ACI TechnologiesThere are more talented engineers retiring than there are personnel to replace them. Effective, targeted training is a solid solution to this problem, which helps to fill this growing knowledge gap. Production equipment comes with instructions, but not with the experience that skilled ...

By Sebastien Schmitt, Robotics Division Manager, Stäubli North AmericaIt's not man against machine, but man and machine working together that is promising to redefine performance in today's industrial factories. Increasingly, robots are being tasked with harsh, dangerous and repetitive jobs that are not fit for humans. As manufacturers look for new ways ...

By George Perkous, CEO, Holoptica, and Josh Roffman, VP Product Management, LoftwareBarcode labeling has been largely a manual, time-consuming, expensive, one-off type of process. Box software applications, used on a site-by-site basis, have generally been point solutions that met a specific need or specific use case. However, the labeling process has moved from being application ...

By Gerhard Baum, Chief Digital Officer, Schaeffler and Juergen Henn, Executive Partner, IBM Global Business ServicesThe migration of data from isolated networks to the cloud is completely changing the way businesses operate and gather information about their products and customers. With recent advances made in the areas of big data and analytics, and in pure computing power, companies can now gather and leverage ...

By Jenn KiminasManaging four world-class EMS facilities is a complex task. From its various locations Libra Industries must provide its customers with services that range from simple PCB production to complete system builds. In order to more effectively monitor and control all four facilities, the company partnered ...

By Melissa Alleman, Vice President, Sonobond UltrasonicsWhen a Canadian manufacturer of protective vests for working dogs sought to guarantee that its canine users had personal protection comparable to that of their human counterparts, it added Sonobond's SeamMaster® high-profile ultrasonic sewing machine to its manufacturing process. ...

By Peter Green, CTO, BellHawk Systems Corp.When three electronics manufacturers approached BellHawk Systems looking for a WIP (work-in-progress) tracking system for quick-turn manufacturing operations in the U.S., they considered two options: RFID or barcodes. Each of these options had a similar problem; they were unable to track, in real ...

By Jim McMahon The University of Missouri School of Medicine research laboratory is now using a new system employing, high-resolution micro-fluoroscopy technology, developed and patented by Glenbrook Technologies, which enables researchers to view the swallowing function of mice while eating and drinking. This ...

By Juli Fortune, EDSYN, Inc.Competition is generally good, however, it can strangle innovation and lead to a loss of focus as manufacturers strive only to produce "the next best thing." For companies that are driven by competition alone, the words of author Edward Abbey may prove alarmingly prophetic. "Where all think alike ...

By Terry Morgan, CEO, VoxviaAll sizes of SMT equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and consumable materials makers will rely on a network of "channel partners" at some point. These partnerships take many forms, ranging from a one-man-band to countrywide distributers; or even super-distributors working across continents.

By Mike Skinner, Assistant EditorPopular in gyms and movies of prizefighters in training, the long, cylindrical punching bag has always looked the same. But the era of the naked punching bag may be drawing to a close. Now it can dress up in some special clothing, a form of wearable electronics containing sensors. The idea is to let ...